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Prix
The Prix Ars Electronica Archive is a collection enabling search and viewing of all the submissions since 1987. The award-winning projects are documented with catalogue texts and audio-visual media. All other submissions can be searched by title/artist and displayed with year, category in list form. Please cite the credits (artwork name, artist and photographer) and only use the materials if your article is related to Ars Electronica.
Portrait One
Luc Courchesne
Original: PR_1992_PortraitOne_001_o.JPG | 811 * 1059px | 554.6 KB
Original: Portrait One | 4147 * 2548px | 30.2 MB
I am interested in the connections between technology and popular culture and, in working on 'Portrait One', I wanted to make an attempt at bridging technology with tradition. I chose to work around the portrait tradition using the videodisc and the computer. The art of the portrait has evolved by way of many breakthroughs in its history.
For example, Chiaroscuro in painting, and photography have clearly enhanced the realism of the portrayed subject and contributed to the success of the genre as a popular art form. Today, media technologies have the potential to once more deeply transform the portrait tradition. In the process of the hypermedia portrait, the subject is 'recorded' and its presence recreated artificially. In 'Portrait One', Marie, a 34 year old French-speaking Montrealer played by actress Paule Ducharme, appears to be lost in reverie. A visitor may try to get her attention: when clicking, using a mouse, 'Excuse me!' on the display, Marie suddenly stares at you; then, clicking among a new choice of questions like 'Do you have the time?', 'Are you looking at me?' or simply 'May I ask you something?' starts a conversation that will develop according to the visitor's curiosity and Mane's moods. The encounter may be cut short because of a lack of tact, or it may develop, among other topics, into intimate discussions of love in the context of a virtual relationship. The course of the conversation is determined by the visitor's choice from a set of approximately 300 questions or comments to Marie. The initial choice defines the language of the conversation: French, English or German. In the English and German versions, Marie's answers are subtitled. In the current version of the installation, the ghostlike image of Marie is produced by the reflexion of the horizontal video screen on a glass plate facing the visitor. (Luc Courchesne)
Technical Background
HW / SW: Macintosh, 1 Videodisk (CAV/NTSL), 2 Floppydiscs
For example, Chiaroscuro in painting, and photography have clearly enhanced the realism of the portrayed subject and contributed to the success of the genre as a popular art form. Today, media technologies have the potential to once more deeply transform the portrait tradition. In the process of the hypermedia portrait, the subject is 'recorded' and its presence recreated artificially. In 'Portrait One', Marie, a 34 year old French-speaking Montrealer played by actress Paule Ducharme, appears to be lost in reverie. A visitor may try to get her attention: when clicking, using a mouse, 'Excuse me!' on the display, Marie suddenly stares at you; then, clicking among a new choice of questions like 'Do you have the time?', 'Are you looking at me?' or simply 'May I ask you something?' starts a conversation that will develop according to the visitor's curiosity and Mane's moods. The encounter may be cut short because of a lack of tact, or it may develop, among other topics, into intimate discussions of love in the context of a virtual relationship. The course of the conversation is determined by the visitor's choice from a set of approximately 300 questions or comments to Marie. The initial choice defines the language of the conversation: French, English or German. In the English and German versions, Marie's answers are subtitled. In the current version of the installation, the ghostlike image of Marie is produced by the reflexion of the horizontal video screen on a glass plate facing the visitor. (Luc Courchesne)
Technical Background
HW / SW: Macintosh, 1 Videodisk (CAV/NTSL), 2 Floppydiscs
Luc Courchesne (CDN), born 1952; 1984 Master of Science in Visual Studies, MIT; Bachelor of Design in Communication, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax. 1984-85 Research Fellow, Center for Advanced Visual Studies, MIT; 1986 Professor, Ecole de design industriel, Université de Montréal; 1990 Board Memher, Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois, Montreal; 1992 Researcher in Residence, IMEREC, Marseille.